Lexus Lexus IS-F News & Information

Lexus Europe has released further details on the 2011 Euro-spec IS F, which will be getting a number of exterior & interior design changes for the new year:

• 5.0 litre V8 is now Euro 5 compliant
• The HID headlights will get getting the arrowhead LED daytime running light strip
• New Starlight Black exterior color
• Dark silver fibre insets
• Contrast stitching changed from white to blue
• Revised seat design
• New steering wheel
• LFA-inspired instrument panel

Here’s the full photo gallery:

The biggest change has to be the new instrument panel, which is dominated by a massive tachometer:

With no way to swap the tachometer & speedometer dial position, I was somewhat lukewarm on the new IP — until I saw the digital speed display, a feature I absolutely love.

Great update — I’ve included all the European details after the jump.

Continue reading this article…

The 2011 Lexus IS F was also revealed as part of Lexus Japan’s big website update yesterday, and it looks like the super-IS will be getting a variation of the LFA’s instrument panel:

Let’s zoom up a bit:

Here’s an alternative view, once again zoomed up due to image size:

From the looks of it, different modes can be selected, and central dash can alternate between a tachometer & speedometer — also note the new Sport button on the steering wheel, right below the phone controls, which may have something to do with the new display.

Pretty amazing we’re already seeing the effects of the LFA on the rest of the lineup — I wouldn’t have expected it to happen so fast.

[Source: Lexus Japan]

This weekend, Dave Schotz raced his daily driver Lexus IS F in National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Time Trials at the Auto Club Speedway in California and proceed to dominate against dedicated racecars — Jalopnik has the full story:

NASA Time Trials allow for almost any car to compete for the fastest lap time on a legitimate race course. One guy rolled up in his daily driver Lexus and crushed everyone.

He ran the car bone stock (other than a set of Hoosier Tires andCarbotech brake pads for track duty) and hit 150 miles per hour on the banking.

Regardless of the number of doors the car has, obviously the Lexus is not shy of performance. The car won the TTB class against dedicated trailered racecars with full rollcages, no interiors and heavily modified suspensions.

As a three time SCCA solo national champion and two time NASA road racing national champion, Schotz is a proven racer, but no matter — cleaning up on the track with a daily driver (even an IS F) is still a story to tell.

(There’s also a thread over at Club Lexus where driver Dave shares some details about the IS F and this weekend’s race, including some minor controversy.)

[Source: Jalopnik]

After adding a limited slip differential last year, Lexus continues to improve the IS F in the 2011 model year by refining the power steering and improving the suspension:

To improve responsiveness and ride comfort, in addition to providing the driver with more control, engineers revised the Electric Power Steering (EPS) system and suspension.  With revised front and rear spring rates, shock absorber dampening, rear bushings and rear camber angle, the IS F provides a confident ride. 

Other changes have also been applied to the 2011 IS F:

• LED daytime running lights have been added to the headlights
• New instrument panel gauges
• The Sport mode switch has been moved to the steering wheel, which will also be getting the same silver treatment as the standard IS
• New dark finish aluminum composite interior trim
• The full black interior will now feature Alcantara seat insets with leather side bolsters
• A new Orange & Black interior will replace the Terra Cotta option
• Brake override system has been added

I’m looking forward to seeing the revised interior, but the real excitement has to be with the performance update, which may very well be coming as a result of the IS F’s involvement in the 24h Nürburgring race. Now that’s kaizen at work.

The full Lexus press release follows.

Continue reading this article…

Members of My.IS & Club Lexus gathered last weekend in Toronto, Ontario for some time at the track and a highway cruise:

There’s plenty of photos to look through in the My.IS thread — this one caught my eye with the red:

Looks like a fun event, I’m hoping to attend myself next year.

(Thanks Vinh!)

Last month, we saw behind-the-scenes footage for a new Lexus commercial featuring all versions of the IS — now here’s the finished product as part of a new IS section on the Lexus Canada website:

Lots of energy to the site, and definitely worth clicking through — the video quality is just fantastic. Very sleek, indeed.

[Source: Lexus Canada]